Conventionally, a wheel is rotated to drive a vehicle using an in-wheel motor (vide, for example, Patent Document 1). This wheel driving apparatus employs a direct drive and outer rotor system. The in-wheel motor has a stator attached to a knuckle member serving as a housing on an inner peripheral side and a rotor attached to a wheel on an outer peripheral side, whereby the stator and the rotor are arranged opposite one another. In this wheel driving apparatus, the rotor is integrated with the wheel and rotation of the in-wheel motor is directly transmitted to the wheel.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-115014
In the wheel driving apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, the wheel, to which the rotor is attached, is configured to have a cylindrical shape and to have rims on both ends of the wheel along an axial direction, whereby the rims are integral with the wheel body and extending toward an outer side in a radial direction of the wheel. Further, the housing, to which the stator is attached, is shaped like a cylinder. The housing has on its inner peripheral side an attaching portion to which a suspension aim, a tie rod and so on are attached.
In such the structure of the wheel driving apparatus, because the rotor is integrated with the wheel, it is necessary to dismount an entire wheel along with an entire rotor when it becomes necessary to exchange the wheel because of damage on an outer side of a body of the wheel or the like. Further, suspension members are attached to the housing, to which the stator is attached. Therefore, before a tire is exchanged, it is necessary to disconnect the wheel from a suspension and remove the wheel including the motor and a tire in its entirety. According to the wheel driving apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, great care is required for a tire exchange and workability of the tire exchange is poor.